One month after the end of the elimination rounds, which RSC Montreuil dominated head and shoulders, winning all four of its matches with a total of twenty-nine bouts won, it's time for the first quarter-final. This year's final qualifier, Saint-Geneviève Sports, will be in Seine-Saint-Denis this Thursday with the firm intention of inviting themselves to the Final Four for the third time running. 

 

Promoted in a hurry 

Impeccable on their travels to Asnières-sur-Seine (6-3) and Venelles (8-2), then unbeatable at home against Normandie Judo (7-2) and Auxerre (8-1), the newly-promoted montreuillais did not miss their debut in this Judo Pro League! Their near-perfect record makes them the logical favourites for this first quarter-final, even if nothing can be taken for granted in judo.  

 

The Red and Whites won't give up 

All the more so when we look back at the qualifying rounds of their next opponents. Masters of suspense, the Essonniens from Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, one of the country's most consistent performers in team events at the XXIe century, were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in their derby against JC Chilly-Mazarin Morangis (5-5, 500/401), thanks to a flash of genius from Avel Coutin, before losing twice by 4-5 to Asnières and Saint-Gratien.
 

Lapuerta Comas and Fontaine lead the way 

At Montreuil's Auguste-Delaune gymnasium, each of the ten matches promises to be hotly contested, with strengths on both sides that could make the outcome more than indecisive. On the Montreuil side, for example, six athletes have already won at least three matches in the competition, including Spain's Mireia Lapuerta Comas (-52kg), who has won all four of her bouts, and Samah Hawa Camara (+70kg), who has earned her team three points, as has Léa Fontaine in the Genovese camp, who could face her. The draw for the order of bouts will once again be decisive.